Crossed Letter A Crossed Letter title

London, 1 August 1914

The Packet

One expedition in twelve dispatches, posted to you month by month, in the explorer’s own words.

First voyage Shackleton’s Endurance expedition, 1914–1917 From his own account, South (1919): the Weddell Sea party and the Ross Sea party.
Join the waitlist First dispatch planned for January 2027
THE PACKET FAR SOUTH MAIL DISPATCH I 1914

A sample of Dispatch I

London to South Georgia, 1 August to 5 December 1914

Page one of Dispatch I, headed Grytviken, South Georgia, 5 December 1914, with a red postmark and the opening of Shackleton’s preface set as a letter.
The dispatch, page one of four. Shackleton’s own words, set as a letter, with every cut marked in red.
Chart panel I of XII: a map of the Scotia and Weddell Seas with the route to South Georgia in red and the rest of the expedition in grey, with insets for the Ross Sea side and the voyage out from London.
The chart, panel I of XII. The route so far is in red. The rest of the expedition waits in grey, numbered by the dispatch that will bring it.

Everyone sets out together

Everyone on the list starts at the same time. The first dispatch leaves London in August 1914 and reaches your doormat in January 2027. After that it’s one a month, following the expedition south: Buenos Aires, South Georgia, the Weddell Sea, and the Ross Sea party on the far side of the continent.

You follow it as it happened, a month at a time, and the chart grows panel by panel until the twelfth completes the voyage.

In each envelope

  • The dispatch

    Four pages on cream paper, set like a letter: that month’s stage of the journey in Shackleton’s own words, with every cut marked.

  • The chart panel

    A card panel showing the route so far. Keep them together and the chart grows until the twelfth panel completes it.

  • The notes slip

    A smaller slip in our own voice: what was happening elsewhere that month, what they got wrong, and what comes next.

From Dispatch I

“A year and a half later we were to learn that the Harpoon, the steamer which tends the Grytviken station, had arrived with mail for us not more than two hours after the Endurance had proceeded down the coast.”

Ernest Shackleton, South (1919). South Georgia, 5 December 1914: the last mail missed them by two hours.

Join The Packet waitlist

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